


Should Old Acquaintance be Forgot

by midoriverte



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-09
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-03-02 21:27:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13326696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midoriverte/pseuds/midoriverte
Summary: Kaneki overhears a conversation he was never meant to, and finds that sometimes New Year's resolutions work out in the way you least expect them.





	Should Old Acquaintance be Forgot

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sondeneige](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sondeneige/gifts).



> Merry Christmas/Happy New Year sondeneige! Sorry your gift is a little late lol. Thanks for always beta-ing my fics so they make sense and for listening to me talk about Hidekane literally constantly. I hope to come up with even more contrived ways to get them together in 2018!

Kaneki never gave a thought to New Year’s Resolutions. It wasn’t that he didn’t get the point of them, there was something kind of nice about using the new year as an excuse to start something new and change yourself. It just...wasn’t something Kaneki normally did. For one thing, there were so many things he should change about himself that he didn’t even know where to start. And he ended up just getting lost trying to think about it. 

 

So he just avoided it. And it was the last thing he had on his mind until he overheard a conversation that he was not meant to hear. 

 

He and Hide had been studying in the library, as usual, but Kaneki had to head home while Hide met with some friends from another class to work on a project. (Hide had insisted that Kaneki could stay with them, but didn’t press this issue when Kaneki looked alarmed at the very thought). 

 

Kaneki got about halfway to his bus stop before realizing that he’d forgotten his notebook and doubled back to go get it. 

 

“Why is the bus loop halfway across campus?” Kaneki demanded, not for the first time, cursing whoever designed his school. By the time he got to the library and took the elevator back up to the third floor he was somehow both sweaty and cold. 

 

The table he had been sitting at with Hide was out of the way, behind a bookshelf, and he could hear the chatter of Hide’s group as he approached. 

 

Even though he knew it would be fine if Hide was there, he had to confess his heart pounded a bit at the thought of showing up panting and sweaty and forgetful in front of a bunch of strangers, especially when he saw that Hide’s group members consisted entirely of pretty girls (and he may or may not have felt a stab of jealousy at that). 

 

They were also clearly  _ not _ working, and were instead gossiping about winter holidays. Kaneki was about to interrupt when he heard one of them ask “So, any New Year’s resolutions?”

 

It wasn’t the most interesting topic, but Kaneki somehow found himself eavesdropping. 

 

“No, they’re stupid,” said the girl closest to Hide almost immediately. 

 

“I don’t know, eat better I guess?” said another. 

 

“Everyone always says that,” Hide laughed. 

 

“Come on, can’t you guys come up with something more interesting?” The girl who had asked demanded. 

“Well, what’s yours?” 

 

“ _ My _ resolution is to finally ask out the boy I like!” She announced. 

 

“You call that more interesting?” said the “eat better” girl.

 

“Hey,” Hide said sternly. “I think it’s a good resolution, it’s not that easy to confess to someone you like.”

 

“Thanks,” the girl said, smiling at Hide in such a bright way that Kaneki had a slight suspicion that he knew who the person she liked was. 

 

“So what’s your resolution, Hide?” 

 

“Mine?” Hide said airily. “Hmm, I’m not sure I have any.”

 

“Come on, we told you ours!” 

 

Hide stretched and put his hands behind his head, “Well, that’s not really my problem,” he grinned mischievously. 

 

The girls laughed and Kaneki smirked to himself a little. He could hear the slight edge to Hide’s voice that they couldn’t. 

 

They all looked at Hide expectantly, and Kaneki really should have gotten his notebook already, but he suddenly really wanted to hear what Hide’s answer would be. 

 

“I guess...mine will be to confess to the person I like too!” Hide announced cheerily. 

 

If he had been going for a reaction he certainly got one, the girls all said something along the lines of “you have someone you like?!” incredulously. 

 

Kaneki had frozen.  _ Hide had someone he liked _ ? 

 

“Mmm, we should actually start working on this project,” Hide said with a mysterious wink and refused to answer any of their other questions. 

 

Kaneki walked away, unseen by Hide and without his notebook.  _ Hide liked someone _ ? He didn’t know why this information should have upset him so much. But Hide was his best friend, and shouldn’t he have told him he liked someone before a bunch of random girls from his class? Kaneki told him about all of his crushes (okay, the information was always dragged out of him by Hide, but still). 

 

Was that it? Was it just because he had never asked? Was he a terrible friend? 

Then another thought occurred to him. Hide had seemed to just come up with it on the spot, hadn’t he? He’d only said anything after being pestered. And he seemed to not take the whole thing seriously. 

 

He had probably just made the the whole thing up to get them to stop asking him. Or maybe to tease them. Or both. 

 

Kaneki took out his phone and sent Hide a text. 

 

_ I think I forgot my notebook can you bring to me next time we see each other? _

 

Hide promptly sent back a kissy smiley face which Kaneki assumed was a “yes” and he sighed in relief. 

 

Of course Hide was kidding about having someone he liked. Because if Hide liked someone that much, liked someone enough to make confessing to them his New Year’s resolution even, then he definitely would have told Kaneki about it. 

 

Why wouldn’t he?

 

***

Kaneki ended up seeing Hide on Sunday for coffee, Hide having sent him a text saying he desperately needed coffee to live after having to take a morning shift at work. 

 

“I had to get up at five in the morning!” Hide groaned by way of greeting as he pulled out the chair across from Kaneki and flopped down on it. “Did you know that five in the morning even exists?”

 

Kaneki rolled his eyes, while secretly feeling bad for Hide, who was definitely looking pale and tired. 

 

“Well, we can get some caffeine into your poor, frail body, would that make you feel better?” Kaneki said, with only a hint of sarcasm. 

 

Hide whined. 

 

Five minutes later, when Hide had a coffee in his hands, he was looking significantly more cheerful. 

 

“Oh, right! The caffeine made me remember that I have to give your notebook back!” Hide reached into his bag and pulled out Kaneki’s book. 

 

“Thanks,” Kaneki said with a laugh. 

 

“No problem,” Hide said. “Hope you didn’t have any tests to study for.”

 

“No,” Kaneki said. Suddenly, he remembered the reason he had made Hide bring his notebook to him in the first place, rather than getting it himself. 

 

Hide was blabbering about something, probably complaining about work this morning, but Kaneki blurted out “So, uh, any New Year’s resolutions?” 

 

“Huh?”

 

_ Well, that was stupid.  _ Kaneki was internally kicking himself for asking that out of nowhere. 

 

“You know…” Kaneki desperately tried to make it seem like this was both an unimportant question and also like he had totally meant to ask it. “A resolution for New Year’s?”

 

“Yeah, I know what they are,” Hide said, sounding amused. “But...why? The first was almost two weeks ago.”

 

“I...don’t know. I just thought of it now?” 

 

“Hmm,” Hide said. Kaneki noted with some consternation that it was with the same tone that Hide had used when the girls in his class had asked him the same question. “Do you have any?” 

 

“M-me?” Kaneki asked in surprise. 

 

“Yeah,” Hide said. “Why would you ask me if you don’t have one either?”

 

“I, uh…”  _ Damn Hide’s perception _ . Hide was giving him a look that Kaneki had received from him countless times before, the look that said he knew Kaneki was hiding something and he was trying to figure out what it was. 

 

Kaneki touched his chin in distraction, wondering how Hide somehow always managed to figure out he was hiding something. 

 

“I...haven’t really thought of it?” Kaneki said finally. 

 

“Let’s come up with one for you then!” Hide said cheerily. 

 

“Like what?” 

 

“Maybe you could hit the gym and get all buff?” Hide said with a grin. 

 

“We both know I’m not going to the gym- wait, do you think I need to go to the gym?” Kaneki demanded. 

 

Hide put his hands up. “I didn’t say that! I’m just coming up with some suggestions! Though I guess you’re right, not that I object to the idea of you getting all buff, but i’m not sure if it fits your sweater-vested bookworm image.”

 

Kaneki frowned. 

 

“Okay...what about...resolving not to wear a cardigan just one day a week?”

 

“Now you’re just teasing me.”

 

Hide winked in response. “Maybe just a little.”

 

Kaneki was disgruntled. He had no idea how he could lead this conversation around to actually get Hide to tell him what he wanted to know. 

 

“Okay,” Kaneki said slowly. “Then how about my resolution is to get a date?” 

 

Hide blinked. “A-a date?” 

 

“Yeah, that’s not a bad one right?”

 

“I… guess not? But why? With who? Just want a date in general?” Hide asked all these questions very quickly. 

 

“Well, I mean, I told you there’s that girl who comes here sometimes?”

 

“Yeah, I remember,” Hide said. 

 

“So… I mean. I was thinking of asking her.”

 

“I guess that’s a decent resolution,” Hide said quietly. 

 

“Well, that’s mine. What about yours?” Kaneki prompted. 

 

“I don’t really have one.” 

 

“You could try getting a date too!” 

 

Hide blinked at him. “Why would I want to do that?” 

 

“I don’t know, if you liked someone?” Kaneki was getting oddly frustrated by this conversation. “Isn’t that what people do?” 

 

Hide took a long sip of coffee, not quite meeting Kaneki’s eyes as he said, “I don’t like anyone like that.”

 

Throwing all caution to the wind, Kaneki snapped, “You said you did!”

 

Hide raised his eyebrows, “When did I say that?”

 

“At the library! When those girls from your class asked you!” 

 

“How… did you hear that?” 

 

Hide sounded a little pissed off and Kaneki immediately regretted starting this entire line of questioning. 

 

“I, uh, I went back to get my notebook but you were already working and i didn’t want to interrupt you but I overheard what you said,” Kaneki felt himself blush. “Sorry.”

 

Hide sighed. “Is that was this was all about?”

 

Kaneki nodded meekly. 

 

“Look, I just said that because I wanted them to stop pestering me about it.”

 

“Right.”

 

“So don’t worry about it,” Hide said, in a sudden cheery voice. The reverse back to his sunny attitude was a little alarming. “I’m not planning to get a girlfriend and leave you or anything!”

 

“That’s not what I was worried about!” Kaneki felt a little bit of doubt as he said it,  _ was _ that what he was worried about?

 

Hide just laughed, and quickly changed the subject to talking about some movie he had watched recently. The tension of their previous conversation dissipated slowly, and within a few days they forgot it had even happened at all. 

 

***

**December 31**

 

“It’s ten minutes to midnight!  Kaneki, find an online countdown clock before the website crashes!” 

 

“We could just use our phones, Hide.”

 

“Yeah but there’s this one website that lights up with videos of fireworks at midnight!” 

 

Kaneki sighed and turned to his laptop to do what Hide said. 

 

The two of them were sitting on Kaneki’s couch, snuggled under a blanket while the movie on the TV was paused so they could properly pay attention to the countdown to the New Year. 

 

They had some half-empty cans of beer in front of them, Hide brought them over because “they were finally both old enough to drink!”, but they both discovered that beer was really bad and abandoned them in favour of hot chocolate. 

 

“Found it,” Kaneki said. 

 

“Good! Now put on your party hat!” 

 

Kaneki did not get a choice in whether or not he put on the hat, as Hide placed it on his head. 

 

“Adorable,” Hide said, putting on his own hat. 

 

“Are you talking about me or you?” Kaneki asked. 

 

“Yes.”

 

Kaneki grinned and looked at the timer, seven minutes to midnight. 

 

“I wish we had some New Year’s Eve traditions or something,” Kaneki said. 

 

“I think staying in, watching terrible movies and trying and failing to get drunk actually counts as a great tradition.”

 

Kaneki smiled, “I guess so.”

 

“We can come up with resolutions I guess?” Hide said. 

 

Kaneki groaned, “My resolution this year didn’t exactly go so great.”

 

“What was it again?” Hide said. Kaneki got the impression he remembered and was just trying to be kind. 

 

“To get  a date,” Kaneki said.

 

“In all fairness, you did,” Hide said sympathetically. 

 

“It was terrible and Rize never texted me again.” 

 

Hide patted him gently on the shoulder. “Live and learn, right? I never liked her, to be honest. She was the kind of person who seemed pretty on the outside, but you could tell she was just hiding a terrible personality.”

 

“In any case, I don’t know if I want to have a resolution this year,” Kaneki said. “It seems like the universe is listening and deciding to give me what I wanted but with a horrible twist.” 

 

Hide laughed. “Maybe resolve to be more optimistic?”

 

“No.”

 

They checked the computer again. Four and a half minutes to midnight. 

 

“And you didn’t even have a resolution this year, right?” Kaneki said turning back to Hide, who, to his surprise, was blushing and looking guilty. 

 

“Uh,” Hide rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. “To be honest, I guess I sort of did?” 

 

“Really?” Kaneki asked. 

 

“It was sort of… a personal resolution. I didn’t tell you. And it doesn’t matter because I didn’t even do it anyway.” 

 

“Can I ask what it was?” 

 

Hide bit his lip and looked away. 

 

Suddenly, Kaneki remembered a conversation he had with Hide ages ago, one that he had barely thought of since. 

 

“Was it… confessing to the person you liked, like you told those girls in your class?”

 

Hide’s eyes widened. “I didn’t think you would remember that.” Kaneki could tell this news was not exactly welcome.

 

“So, was that it, you wanted to confess to someone?”

 

Hide nodded, looking mortified. 

 

“And you could tell those girls in your class, but you couldn’t tell me?”  _ Three minutes to midnight _ . 

 

“Kaneki-”

 

“I mean, I don’t mind if you want to keep it a secret,” which was mostly a lie, “but I don’t get why you would tell people you barely know and not me.”

 

“That’s- I mean that’s not-” Hide looked pained.

 

_ Two and a half minutes _ .

 

The two settled into an awkward silence. Kaneki hated himself for starting a fight just before midnight on New Year’s Eve. The perfect way to end and start a year he supposed. 

 

“Hide,” he said, when he couldn’t take the tension anymore. “I’m sorry I-”

 

“It’s you.” 

 

“Huh?” 

 

“The person I like. The person I wanted to confess to. It’s you.”

 

It took a Kaneki a moment to process this.He turned to Hide and was shocked to find he had tears in his eyes.

 

“Hide, don’t, why are you crying?” Kaneki was baffled by the range of emotions they had gone through in such a short period of time, and he fumbled around for a tissue but couldn’t find one and settled for comfortingly putting an arm around Hide’s shoulder as Hide frantically wiped at his eyes with his sleeves. 

 

“I don’t know. Because I’m an idiot? Because I’m a coward for never telling you? Because I just ruined everything and you probably hate me now?” 

 

“No, no and  _ no _ !” Kaneki said. “How could I possibly hate you?”

 

Hide shook his head.  “Aren’t you uncomfortable?”

 

“Why would I be uncomfortable?” 

 

“I don’t know… it doesn’t change how you feel about me, how you’re going to feel around me now?”

 

Less than a minute until midnight now. Kaneki suddenly felt tears in his own eyes.

 

“No, never, you’re my best friend!” Kaneki said. He didn’t know what possessed him to do it, but he reached over and cupped Hide’s face gently in his hands to force Hide to look him in the eye. 

 

Hide blinked at him in surprise as Kaneki said. “I mean it, how I feel about you won’t change just because I know you have feelings for me.”

 

Tears fell from Hide’s eyes, but he smiled weakly. 

 

“Thank you. I’m...sorry I didn’t say anything earlier.”

 

“Don’t worry about it,” Kaneki said gently. “I know how hard it is to tell someone how you feel.”

 

Hide nodded, Kaneki still had his hands on Hide’s face. 

 

“Look on the bright side,” Kaneki said. “You told me in time to achieve your New Year’s resolution.”

 

Hide laughed. “I guess you’re right.” 

 

_ Fifteen seconds. _

 

Hide was blushing, and Kaneki was struck by how cute he looked in that moment. 

 

Kaneki suddenly became very aware that he was cupping Hide’s face in his hands. 

 

“Hide,” he said very quickly. “We were talking about New Year’s traditions, did you know that some people have a tradition where you have to kiss someone at midnight for good luck the next year?”

 

“Wha-?”

 

Just as the countdown clock hit zero, and the videos of fireworks that Hide had talked about lit up the dark room, Kaneki pulled Hide close and kissed him. 

 

He didn’t know where this boldness had come from, but it had seemed like the right thing to do, and Hide froze momentarily but then he was kissing him back and Kaneki felt like he could have fainted. 

 

He had only intended for it to be a quick peck on the lips, but he had moved his hands from Hide’s face and grasped the front of his shirt instead, and Hide had his hands on Kaneki’s back and was pushing him closer as they both deepened the kiss. 

 

They finally broke away from each other because they needed to breathe, but they didn’t let go of each other and Kaneki looked into Hide’s eyes to see that Hide looked absolutely bewildered by what had happened. 

 

Kaneki felt a warmth spread through his chest seeing Hide that way. It was weird, because he never would have thought of Hide this way before he told him how he felt, but he knew instantly that kissing Hide, being held by Hide like this, was  _ right _ . 

 

“I...wouldn’t mind making that a tradition,” Hide said breathlessly. 

 

“Hmm, and I think I  _ do _ have a resolution for this year,” Kaneki said. 

 

“O-oh?”

 

“Go on a date,” Kaneki said. “But this time, with you.”

 

Hide’s grin was brighter than the fireworks as he said, “I think I can help make that happen. But, uh, weren’t you saying that you thought resolutions were bad luck? Aren’t you worried something will go wrong?”

 

Kaneki rested his head on Hide’s shoulder and said, “Not in the slightest.”

 


End file.
